Fast Times at The Nashville Superspeedway
The fastest practice speeds ever recorded
in the state of Tennessee were delivered this past week by Indy Racing League
drivers, sophomore Sarah Fisher and veteran Billy Boat, while testing at the
Nashville Superspeedway. Both drivers had their test speeds hovering around the
200 m.p.h. mark, but expect race week qualifying speeds to reach the 210 m.p.h.
range!
The Nashville Superspeedway successfully
kicked off its inaugural season this past April by welcoming the NASCAR Busch
Grand National Series and ARCA RE/MAX Series teams to town and are now shifting
gears awaiting the first-ever night race featuring the IRL in July.
Cliff Hawks, Vice President and General
Manager for the superspeedway said, "We are only four weeks away for our
inaugural Indy event and we feel there is a lot of historical significance to
this first race. It’s the first time the Indy Racing League will compete in
the state of Tennessee and our first major event under the lights at the
Nashville Superspeedway. The race fans will witness the fastest speeds ever
recorded on an oval track in the entire state and we’re very excited about it!
We think the fans should be very excited as well."
Fisher, the 20-year-old Indianapolis
native said, "We’re very excited about being here in Nashville. It was a
little bumpy at first going on the track, the Indy cars are very low to the
ground, but it gave us a good opportunity to work on our car set-up. It’s
quite a nice racetrack with a good line for racing. After some rubber gets laid
down in the higher lines, it’ll be even better. I look forward to coming back
here in July."
Boat, the 1998 True Valve 500 winner,
commented, "The first thing I noticed while testing here at Nashville is
the fact this is a drivers track. It’s a good handling racetrack. Some mile
and a half tracks we go to and put our foot to the floor, it’s very tough on
the car and driver, but not here at the new superspeedway. It’s a great track
and a fast track for the drivers and the fans. It should be an exciting race
once we get the track a little rubbered in because it has multiple grooves to
run in. Plus, it’s the home track for my sponsor, Curb Records, based here in
Nashville, so we’ll also try and put on a good show for them."
Fisher is the youngest person to ever
compete in an Indy Racing League event while running at the Texas Motorspeedway
in 1999 and only the 3rd woman ever to qualify for the famed Indy
500! She acknowledges her life as a young part-time college student is a bit
extraordinary, but would not change one thing!
"I didn’t go to my prom, and I don’t
get to do a lot of things, but look where I am. I don’t regret anything I
might have missed because I’m doing what I love," said Fisher.
Fisher added, "Racing is like an
addiction to me, it’s like smoking, only it’s a lot healthier for you."
Being a young female participating in a
male-dominated sport has prompted some to question whether Fisher’s
credibility as a driver is the issue or whether she generates publicity based
solely on her gender. Fisher commented, "Gender is not a factor to me. I
know people are looking at me that way and from that aspect I have to be
careful. But, when I’m on the racetrack, I am very focused. I am sitting in
that race car and making it go as fast as I can. When I’m doing those things,
it’s all about the track and my gender absolutely never comes into play."
Boat added, "The other drivers and I
feel like Sarah is just another competitor for us. We don’t look at her any
differently than anyone else. She’s a racer and she has been doing a great
job."
Tickets to the July 21, 2001 IRL race can
still be purchased by going online at www.nashvillesuperspeedway.com or by
calling 1-866-RACE-TIX.